Overcoming Strength
by Swish42
Summary: Sequel to Becoming Stronger! Zelgadis has more trouble coming his way when his clone body starts to deteriorate and bandit's reappear out of near extinction. These bandits are armed with powerful magical weapons and Seyruun is feeling the brunt of their fury. Will Zelgadis be able to overcome his mysterious illness or will he be drawn yet again into another Lina induced problem.
1. Knowing Too Much

_Author's Note: Please don't read this unless you've read Becoming Stronger, otherwise it won't make much sense. If you have, great! I hope you enjoy and feedback is always appreciated. This story is mostly for Clang55 and SlayersFan132. Thanks for everything you two!_

Overcoming Strength

Knowing Too Much

Chapter 1

"So that is what astral vision is?" Xellos says as he finishes his tea across from Zelgadis.

The once chimera man, Zelgadis, bites back a sarcastic reply and attempts to enjoy his beverage. As promised, Zelgadis has just finished explaining the astral vision magic he has mastered thanks to his latest adventure.

Over the course of a month, Zelgadis had the unfortunate luck of losing his voice, hearing, and sight. They were sealed into three monsters by a crazy sorcerer who called himself Ralnker the Gold. This took place over two months ago and since then Zelgadis has tied up most of the loose ends from that miserable event. Xellos had been of some assistance to Zelgadis during this trying time and in return for Xellos's involvement, Zelgadis promised to tell Xellos how he was able to overcome Ralnker's spell.

Zelgadis has just finished telling Xellos how he was able to see and talk using astral magic, without the need of unsealing his senses from Ralnker's monsters.

During the time that Zelgadis was forced to be mute, deaf, and blind physically, he found a way to see using astral magic and the astral plane in a way to interpret the physical world around him. Zelgadis also discovered a way to communicate with Filia using a version of a shamanist Vision spell and Tansaku spell. He learned how to sense the use of magic before it took a visible form as well.

Ironic that he has Xellos to thank for learning this last trick, after the monster viciously attacked him once. Astral Vision is the short name and term Zelgadis is using to describe all of these techniques he has mastered.

Xellos pretends to be impressed after hearing all of this, but it is nothing new to him apparently.

Honestly, Zelgadis is surprised that Xellos is even bothering to collect on his promise. Zelgadis figures that Xellos already knows all of this information anyway (if not more) and Zelgadis is somewhat put out that the mysterious priest is wasting both of their time with this meeting.

"Are you still using your astral vision even though you can see again?" Xellos asks casually.

"Yes," Zelgadis says. He wants Xellos to leave, what more could the monster want? In boredom, Zelgadis lets his eyes wander and he looks out the window. Watching a young magician entertain some children with a light spell, Zelgadis is momentarily amused. The magician twirls the light around in his hands as if he is juggling balls.

Recognizing a small child with blond hair, Zelgadis smiles briefly, watching her squeal with delight at the simple magic trick. The child was extremely ill when Zelgadis first came to the town a day ago, but he healed her. The girl is supposed to still be in bed recovering, but apparently she escaped her vigilant parents.

Recently, Zelgadis has been traveling around with his friends and helping people like he use to with Rezo. Zelgadis is paid for his services however, unlike Rezo. Besides, Zelgadis doesn't have a huge following of fans like Rezo did that can support him.

In addition, ever since the defeat of Ralnker, Zelgadis has tried to become more considerate of his friends, but he still finds it difficult to stay put for long periods of time. At this moment, he is traveling with Amelia and Sylphiel, who are in town discussing issues with the local governor. Apparently they are concerned about the questionable sanitation for the working class. Since they happen to be near Sairaag, Sylphiel came along as well.

The little blond hair girl outside chases one of the balls of light with the other children before the magician scatters the light spell. As Zelgadis watches, one of the balls of light seems to become blurry in his vision, but after he blinks a few times it comes back into focus.

"Have you been practicing your sign language or pot making skills?" Xellos asks.

Where did that come from?

"No," Zelgadis says.

"That's too bad," Xellos says. The monster frowns, but his closed eyes are still grinning.

Zelgadis really wants to bad mouth the monster, but he keeps it together.

"Do you want to know anything else?" Zelgadis asks.

"Yes I do," Xellos says. "But it's a secret, so I'll need to ask you about it later."

Zelgadis raises an eyebrow, what on earth is that supposed to mean?

Eyeing the position of the sun Zelgadis stands from his seat and leaves a tip for the bar tender. "I should be going, I'm sure Amelia is done by now," Zelgadis says.

Xellos nods and stands from his seat as well. "I'll see you again shortly," Xellos replies.

"Don't tell me that," Zelgadis says through clenched teeth. "Just leave it at 'that's a secret.' I don't want to see you so soon."

"Oh, Zel-Zel you're no fun," Xellos pouts. Zelgadis cringes slightly at the use of the nickname Ralnker had given him. Xellos offers a cruel unfeeling smile before vanishing from the public's views. Zelgadis continues to watch Xellos as he flies away. Using his astral vision, Zelgadis carefully watches the monster's astral form, making sure the monster leaves and doesn't come back.

The truth is that thanks to his astral vision, no monster can ever hope to sneak up on Zelgadis. With the help of his astral vision, Zelgadis can see two times further than the naked eye can.

Walking up to the blond little girl outside, Zelgadis is polite enough to stop and smile kindly down at her.

She smiles sheepishly, recognizing the man who saved her.

"Shouldn't you still be in bed?" Zelgadis asks.

Looking at her shoes the girls says, "Yeah."

"Well, then you should probably go home, before your parents start to worry," Zelgadis says.

"Okay, Mister Grey," she says. With a short bow the girl heads straight for home.

He smiles after her and turns around towards the governor's manor.

After passing through the market and past the higher class homes, Zelgadis meets up with Amelia and Sylphiel before ever reaching the governor's home.

"There you are Mister Zelgadis," Amelia says walking up to him. The princess is now twenty one years old and is a lot taller than she use to be. It has taken a while for Zelgadis to get use to it. Sylphiel smiles at him warmly, offering a small nod in greeting.

"I was just going to meet up with you both," Zelgadis says in his usual monotone fashion.

"Well, Mister Thretle and I finished up eventually. I was surprised that you weren't in the parlor waiting for me." Amelia says. She looks at Zelgadis with a smile, but her eyes betray a bit of confusion.

"Did you have a lot of customers today?" Sylphiel asks softly.

"I had some business to take care of just like you," Zelgadis says. "It took longer than I would have liked."

"I see," Amelia says. "Well, I hope your business was as successful as ours was. Justice and cleanliness was carried out flawlessly today. The people will hopefully no longer become sick so easily."

"And Sairaag will not need to be worried about it either," Sylphiel says.

"That is good to hear, I think my business today was successful as well," Zelgadis says. He turns around and the three begin to make their way back towards the inn.

Indiscreetly, Zelgadis takes note of Amelia, who is eyeing his swinging arm. With a bright smile, she grabs his arm tightly as he blushes. "I'm glad we got to travel together again."

Sylphiel beams brightly as she watches the two, seemingly happy, couple.

"Yeah-ah, me too," Zelgadis sputters.

Once again, Zelgadis is face to face with Amelia's feelings towards him. He was hoping it wouldn't be too bad this time around since Sylphiel was with them. That doesn't seem to be the case. These situations have become increasingly common since he has been spending more time with Amelia and the others. Zelgadis isn't sure if he likes Amelia the same way she likes him. He appreciates all she has done for him, especially recently, after purposefully avoiding her for years, but he isn't sure he wants this. He thought that after he lost his stone exterior he could settle down and fall in love, but he still finds it difficult to stay put. His heart is still made of stone.

Zelgadis lets her hug his arm and he offers her a small smile, despite his discomfort.

Standing this close to her, Zelgadis is reminded of another issue he was avoiding before the Ralnker incident. While Amelia has grown up over the years, he hasn't changed at all. He didn't really care before, but now he is finding that it does bother him, especially the knowledge of his unchanged chimera astral form nagging at the back of his mind. He resists looking at himself with his astral vision. Anyway, he hasn't aged at all since making this new human body for himself.

Now this wouldn't be a problem if not coupled with another tidbit of information. Six months ago, Zelgadis also made a new body for Pokota, but unlike himself, the young prince has grown. Zelgadis purposefully created the prince's body shorter than himself, but in just six months the young man has grown the way he should considering his age.

While Zelgadis is lost in his musings, the three friends make it to the inn and chow down on dinner. Zelgadis eats a lot more than he use to, but now that he isn't a chimera it is expected.

"Is something bothering you," Amelia asks.

Sylphiel stops eating and looks at Zelgadis along with Amelia. What is it with these women?

Zelgadis stops eating briefly and looks at Amelia. "I'm fine Amelia," Zelgadis says truthfully. While there are plenty of things that are inconvenient for Zelgadis right now, he isn't worried about it. After being blind, mute, and deaf for a month, Zelgadis considers such issues, like dealing with Xellos, his monstrous astral form, and inability to age, little more than small nuisances.

"Are you sure?" Amelia asks and Sylphiel continues to look with concerned eyes.

Now Zelgadis is becoming slightly annoyed. If there isn't anything wrong now, there will be if she keeps asking about this none existent thing. Zelgadis realizes that he has purposefully been spending more time with his friends recently, but where does one draw the line when said friends become irritating. The old Zelgadis would get up and leave, but the new one doesn't run from troubles such as these.

"Yes, I am sure," Zelgadis says calmly. He doesn't betray any emotion.

"Alright," Amelia says awkwardly.

"Well, like Amelia asked earlier, who was your business with earlier?" Sylphiel whispers, at least it sounds like a whisper to Zelgadis. Slightly taken aback, Zelgadis wonders when Amelia ever asked such a question. He doesn't remembering hearing her say something like that tonight. Before Zelgadis can answer Sylphiel's question he is interrupted.

Outside they hear a commotion start on the street and everyone in the inn eyes the door suspiciously. Sylphiel grips her napkin in slight unease.

Using his astral vision Zelgadis immediately recognizes the two people outside the door.

"It's Lina and Gourry," Zelgadis says in confusion. "Did you tell them we were going to be in this town?"

"No, I didn't," Amelia says. Both Zelgadis and Amelia next turn to look towards Sylphiel. The twenty-five year old priestess is obviously guilty.

"Well," Sylphiel says blushing before continuing. "Of course, I would tell my future husband where I was. I have to try my hardest since Lina won't let him go. I'm going to be a spinster at this rate. When I told Gourry where I was going, Lina just happened to be there at the time."

Before Amelia or Zelgadis can flee for their lives, Lina bursts into the room. "There you guys are," Lina says with a beaming smile.

Leave it to Sylphiel, Zelgadis thinks to himself while rolling his eyes.

"Man it's great to see you again so soon, Zel," Lina says hitting Zelgadis on the back in an over the top fashion. "I didn't think you would keep your social practices up like this. Hey Amelia, Sylphiel, how's it been?"

Sinking into his seat, Zelgadis does his best to ignore the three girls as they begin to chat.

Gourry says something as he takes a seat next to Zelgadis, but Zelgadis cannot make it out. The room is becoming much noisier now that Lina is here. The background noise is almost nauseating. Without a second thought, Zelgadis stands and makes his way to his room. There is a point where one must draw a line.

But for the record he is not running away.

"I'll see you in the morning," Zelgadis says as he smiles at his friends.

"Ah, but don't you want to catch up?" Lina says as she takes some leftover meat off of what use to be Zelgadis's plate.

"I don't have anything to report," Zelgadis says suppressing a laugh. "Don't worry Lina, no new mad men or twitching Mazoku is getting under my skin."

"Well that's good, alright Zel you're off the hook," Lina says as she engulfs Zelgadis's surrendered food. She doesn't get away with it for long, as Gourry starts to steal some of the food from under her nose. When an all out war breaks out between Gourry and Lina over the food, Zelgadis takes the opportunity to leave.

It seems strange to Zelgadis. Here they are, in their mid and early twenties and all of them are doing nearly the exact same things they were doing five years ago. Will the Slayers ever change? Probably not.

As Zelgadis climbs the stairs he absentmindedly rubs a slight pain in his back. Is all this traveling getting to him, Zelgadis bitterly wonders? Dismissing the pain as a Lina inflicted curse, Zelgadis goes to bed early and sleeps soundly. Even though he rests easily, Zelgadis cannot fall back to sleep after the sun peaks over the horizon.

Grunting under his breath, Zelgadis heads down stairs and orders some coffee as he waits for his companions to rise. They do not join him until nearly two hours later. Apparently, Zelgadis has been up since six in the morning. Amelia comes to sit beside him.

"I said, did you sleep well Mister Zelgadis," Amelia asks as she gently nudges his arm in order to get his attention. The princess orders a decent sized breakfast and Zelgadis takes the opportunity to order something for himself as well.

"I think so," Zelgadis replies with a shrug. "But I did have a little trouble falling back to sleep early this morning."

Lina butts into the conversation loudly. "That's what you get for going to bed early, old man" Lina says and proceeds to order three rounds of the house special.

"Are you feeling okay Zel," Gourry nearly screams at Zelgadis from across the table.

Zelgadis openly glares at the idiot swords man, "Yes, I'm fine," Zelgadis yells back.

"Oh good," Gourry shouts.

Without any warning a twitching Lina slams Gourry with a pink bunny slipper. "Why are you yelling so early in the morning!" Lina yells at him. "Great now I'm yelling." Before she can hit Gourry again, her breakfast arrives and her idiot companion is momentarily saved by the delicious house special.

"Lina's right, people shouldn't be yelling at breakfast," Amelia says. In a momentary lapse of justice Amelia pumps her arm and looks at the ceiling valiantly. "After all, it would be unfair of us to disturb the late risers who are staying at this fine establishment."

Sylphiel nods in agreement.

Zelgadis notes that Amelia's justice speeches are not nearly as extravagant as they use to be, but she still says them too often for his taste. Bringing his attention back to his meal, Zelgadis takes a bite of his breakfast and begins to thoroughly enjoy his food. Time passes like this for a while, with the others chattering away and Zelgadis lost in his own thoughts. He doesn't even hear them.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Zelgadis's companions finish up and stand, beginning to make their way to the exit. Caught off guard, Zelgadis drinks the last of his cup and rushes after them.

Gourry lingers at the back of the pack and waits for Zelgadis. "Ready to go?" Gourry shouts at him.

"Yes, I guess I am, but why don't you guys warn me before taking off like that," Zelgadis says, trying to contain his annoyance at Gourry's shouting.

With obvious concern, Gourry looks at Zelgadis carefully. Having come to some unknown decision, Gourry smiles down at Zelgadis and nods at him.

As the party makes their way out of town, Zelgadis is surprised that Lina and Gourry stick around. Apparently, Lina decided to travel back to Seyruun with them and of course Gourry is sure to follow. Racking his brain, Zelgadis tries to remember anything that might have been said during the meal this morning, but nothing sticks out to him. He only remembers hearing them fight over food. That's what meal times always are with Gourry and Lina in tow.

Lina, Amelia and Sylphiel are leading the group as Gourry and Zelgadis walk at the back. For the entire journey Zelgadis puzzles over his lack of knowledge and he briefly considers asking Gourry about the discussion he apparently missed at breakfast, but decides against it. It is highly unlikely that Gourry remembers anything other than the food exchanged at the meal.

Even after eating lunch, Zelgadis doesn't say a word to his friends, but is completely lost in thought. Scratching the back of his head, Zelgadis looks up in time to see the huge astral form of Xellos flying towards them. Just perfect, Zelgadis thinks to himself.

"_Hello Zelgadis,"_ Xellos's astral form says to Zelgadis. _"I see you are traveling with Lina, how nice."_

"I thought our business was over," Zelgadis says to Xellos. He refuses to look directly at the monster.

Gourry turns towards Zelgadis and looks around. The keen swordsman is wondering who on earth Zelgadis is talking to, because no one is nearby with the exception of himself and the girls some ways off in front of them.

"_Well that business is over, but I'm here for my next assignment."_ Xellos says. Mysteriously, the monster remains in his astral form.

"Hey, Zel who are you talking too?" Gourry says loudly, but he doesn't yell.

Zelgadis rolls his eyes. "To Xellos," Zelgadis answers stiffly.

"Oh, I see," Gourry says loudly again with a smile. At this point, the girls at the front of the pack are starting to take notice of the men behind them and glance back.

"_You would be wise to pay more attention Zelgadis,"_ Xellos says with a giggle. At this point Zelgadis realizes that Xellos is not showing himself on the physical plane.

"What are you getting at," Zelgadis says in a low tone. Now he knows why the girls and Gourry were looking at him funny. Zelgadis is use to implementing his astral vision along with his normal vision so he didn't readily realize that Xellos was purposefully messing with him.

"_Watch out,"_ Xellos says simply as Zelgadis begins to trip and fall to the ground.

Luckily, Gourry is paying attention and catches Zelgadis before the young man can fall all the way over. Firing off multiple thoughts, Zelgadis's brain tries to figure out where on earth that fallen log came from.

"Careful Zel," Gourry says loudly. Now the concern on his face stays there. The swordsman doesn't smile or brush it away. "Didn't you see the log Zel?"

"I wasn't paying attention I guess," Zelgadis says as he straightens up and carefully maneuvers his feet over the dead tree. Choosing to hide his discomfort from Gourry, Zelgadis glares at Xellos. Although he doesn't want to admit it, Zelgadis hadn't seen the log lying in the middle of the path. Zelgadis briefly considers the possibility that he perhaps didn't notice such a simple thing because of Xellos, but this excuse doesn't work out. He was purposefully avoiding direct eye contact with the monster. There is just a blur in his mind, where the log is supposed to be. Zelgadis's astral vision didn't help him out much since objects that do not move and aren't living are harder to discern using this technique.

Zelgadis stops and looks up to where Xellos once was, but now the monster priest is in his physical form and is walking beside him.

"Did you make Zelgadis trip?" Gourry asks Xellos loudly, peaking around Zelgadis in order to see the monster better.

"No I didn't Gourry," Xellos says with a small smile. "I was just having a private conversation with him."

"Zel can see you when you are invisible?" Gourry asks loudly again in wonder.

"Yes he can," Xellos says. The monster's smile is getting bigger and bigger for some reason, which is disconcerting to Zelgadis. "And I have just confirmed that he can hear me on the astral plane as well, isn't that fun."

Zelgadis goes pale as Gourry smiles at Xellos. "Yeah, that sounds cool," Gourry says loudly, making it obvious to Zelgadis that the man beside him has no clue what Xellos is talking about.

"No, that isn't good," Zelgadis says under his breath. _Am I cursed again_, Zelgadis thinks.

"Hey, Xellos, why are you here?" Lina calls back as she notices their new member.

"That's a secret Miss Lina," Xellos says shifting his finger from side to side in his common manner.

"Hmff, well I'll figure it out," Lina says with a shrug and the crew begins to continue their trek without any sign of further interruptions.

Zelgadis smiles at this encouraging notion, but frowns as Gourry raises his sword. Zelgadis sees the bandits before anyone else. "Look out Lina!" Gourry calls.

Out of the surrounding overgrowth and trees the Slayers gang is attacked by bandits. Needless to say, these bandits could not have chosen a worse party to attack, but there is no changing their mind as soon as Lina fires a slew of spells at them. The smarter bandits immediately run in fear.

Gourry swings his sword high as Amelia smashes them with her fists of justice. Even Sylphiel doesn't go easy on the fiends as they attack. Zelgadis fires off numerous spells bringing out his sword only when one of the bandits manages to get close enough. Catching something out of the corner of his eye Zelgadis turns around swiftly only to see Xellos's back. The monster blocks an attack from one of the bandits with his wood staff before Zelgadis has a chance to do anything.

Zelgadis bites his tongue, but as the fight continues, he is keenly aware that Xellos doesn't leave his side.

When the battle is over, Zelgadis considers confronting Xellos about it, but decides against it. Either Xellos will claim that it is a secret or worse it will be something Zelgadis just doesn't want to deal with. Both answers would not be welcomed.

"Wow, look at the loot these guys got!" Lina says as she searches one of the bandit's bodies. The excited red head looks as if she is opening presents for a surprise birthday party. Raising a magically infused amulet Lina inspects her prize happily.

"Miss Lina look at this too!" Amelia says as she lifts a magically infused dagger for her friend to inspect.

"As long as it doesn't turn its bearer crazy, I'll take it," Lina says, swiping it from Amelia and taking a closer look.

Half an hour later Zelgadis is amazed, and slightly alarmed, at the amount of magically infused items the bandits were carrying into battle. He then turns his attention to the monster in their mist. Chances are the monster knows what is going on. To avoid appearing suspicions, Zelgadis uses his astral vision to study Xellos. The monsters material and astral form don't betray anything much, but Zelgadis does get the distinct feeling from Xellos' astral cone body that he is excited for some reason.

"I'd appreciate it, if you didn't look at me like that," Xellos says opening his eyes slightly.

Zelgadis tries to hide his surprise and quickly makes his way towards Lina. Maybe it isn't too late to grab some of the bandit's stash, before Lina takes it all.

_Authors Note: Now begins the sequel to 'Becoming Stronger.' This story will have less action, but it will answer the questions I left hanging in the first story. In some ways I enjoy this story more since Zelgadis is a bit more mature in his actions and decisions. I hope you enjoy._


	2. Finding my Weakness

Overcoming Strength

Finding my Weakness

Chapter 2

Over the next couple of days, Zelgadis is keenly aware of a change in his companion's behavior towards him; that and the amount of bandit attacks. And for the sake of complaining, Zelgadis also finds it difficult to sleep in. Although, if anyone cares to ask him, Zelgadis would admit that the recent change in his friend's mannerisms towards him is much more alarming than the numerous stupid bandits that choose to attack Lina Inverse. With the exception of Gourry, everyone seems to ignore him. Amelia from time to time will grab at his arm in her usual fashion, but she doesn't talk to him nearly as often it seems and she appears uncomfortable. Could it be from the numerous bandit attacks? Zelgadis also notices that his friends are annoyed at him more often for no apparent reason. They complain that he isn't paying attention to them and is outright ignoring them.

What has he done to deserve this kind of treatment? Aren't they the ones ignoring him? Hasn't he been trying to be nicer to them, why the cold shoulder? Through it all, Xellos only makes things worse, fazing in and out of the physical and astral plane simply to annoy Zelgadis it seems.

After three days of bandits, and his friend's rudeness, Zelgadis begins to notice that something is seriously wrong as he joins his friends for breakfast the fourth day. As he looks around the table everything seems slightly blurry at first. Blinking his eyes, the world begins to come into slight focus as his astral vision tries to compensate. He can see the large magic pools of all his companions and he notices a strange energy emitting from Lina's hand. Zelgadis immediately identifies the power as belonging to one of the dragon lords. Why didn't he notice that before? He also sees a resemblance to the Lord of Nightmares in her spirit. Needless to say, such keen observations disturb him. While his eyes vision seems to be failing his astral vision is becoming sharper.

"Want some of my brisket, Zel," Zelgadis hears Gourry say, as the bigger man offers something blurry from his plate to him.

Lina's form ignites slightly and hits Gourry. Watching Lina's moving mouth, Zelgadis's heart nearly stops as he realizes that he can barely hear her. In a near panic, Zelgadis stands from his chair and moves his face as close as he dares in front of Lina.

"What?" Zelgadis barely hears Lina scream, she blushes slightly because Zelgadis's face is so close to hers. He kind of has a cute boyish face on him and she takes note briefly that his young face hasn't changed at all since he cured himself three years ago.

Outwardly shaking a little now, Zelgadis slowly backs away and lowers himself into his seat.

Everyone stares at Zelgadis, their expressions full of worry or (in Lina's case) cautious concern. Their emotions are easy to read for Zelgadis thanks to the astral plane. Making no move to say anything, Zelgadis merely turns his attention back to his meal and apologizes to his friends for his strange behavior. With eyes full to the brim with care, Amelia attempts to ask Zelgadis what is bothering him, but Lina raises a hand stopping her. Amelia makes a move to question Lina, but the red head sorcerer merely shakes her head. Zelgadis cannot make out what either girl says. Eventually, the group finishes their meal and sets out again.

As they walk Zelgadis thinks hard about what is bothering him. Without a doubt, Zelgadis knows that even though this group has been rude to him all week, he can still depend on them to help him. But first he needs to figure out what is wrong.

At lunch, and after another bandit ambush, Zelgadis watches Lina torture Xellos.

In Zelgadis's eyes, it looks like a black spiraling tornado is being bullied by a yellow and red flaming inferno. Admittedly, Zelgadis initially finds this show fairly entertaining, but it sorely reminds him that he isn't seeing them correctly. When he tries to look at them with his normal eyes, they look like a bunch of red, black, and purple blurry spots. His brain tries to fill in the missing pieces, but in order to do that, his mind automatically depends on his astral vision to make sense of it.

After Lina and Xellos' fight is over, Gourry walks over to Zelgadis.

"We're almost to Seyruun Zel, let's get going," Gourry says. Miraculously, Zelgadis can hear Gourry, but he resentfully realizes that this is probably because his friend is yelling. Just like Gourry has been doing for Zelgadis since they first met up again four days ago.

Right from the beginning, Gourry noticed that Zelgadis was having trouble hearing, so as expected, without explaining this to anyone, the swordsman began to yell at Zelgadis in order for his friend to hear him clearly. No wonder Zelgadis can hear bandits and Amelia's justice speeches just fine, not that he can hear anything else she has said.

"I'm going deaf again, only this time more slowly and not because of some spell I think," Zelgadis muses aloud. Gourry doesn't know what Zelgadis means, but mentions it to Lina.

Upon their arrival in Seyruun, and not running into anymore suicidal bandits, Zelgadis is immediately scurried over to the White Mages in order to heal him. One of the mages Zelgadis worked with during the chimera outbreak works closely with Zelgadis, comparing notes with him. As Zelgadis studies his assistant's astral presence with his dying eyes, he is interested to find that his assistant looks different from the other mages. It is strange that even during this stressful turn of events; Zelgadis cannot help but study the interesting occurrences around him.

His assistants name is Crowling and he and Zelgadis want to make sure that Zelgadis's body isn't deteriorating. It would not be good news to find that all of the chimera's Zelgadis has cured, and provided new bodies for, are in danger of their bodies falling apart.

"Sir, I've run every test imaginable," Crowling says, it should be noted that his assistant is yelling at the top of his lunges in order to be heard. "I don't know how to explain this, but simply put it appears that you're going deaf and blind. Do you think one of the strange items the bandits were carrying is affecting you?"

"_I didn't know you had an assistant? Well aren't you special," _Xellos says to Zelgadis from the astral plane. The monster has been following him everywhere, even here in the white magic capital of the world. Suppressing a grunt Zelgadis ignores the invisible monster and addresses Crowling.

"No, I don't think the cause is from a magical item, but more importantly how can it be that I'm going deaf and blind again?" Zelgadis says as he looks over Crowlings notes. Holding the notes up to his nose, Zelgadis can just make out what the parchment says. "I haven't aged a day since the experiment three years ago and now I'm going deaf and blind like an old man? Why would I start to age now? And I still appear to be eighteen." As his mind races, Zelgadis remembers Pokota. "Wait, is Pokota alright?"

"Yes, he is fine." Crowling says patiently. The concerned assistant wants to get to the bottom of this mystery just as much as Zelgadis does. "His body was created to be the age of a twenty year old, but since he is a strong black magic user his body is ageing the way it should which is slower than a normal human being. He might as well look eighteen just like you . . . but at least he is growing."

"_First you complain about looking like a monster and now you're sad about looking so young,"_ Xellos says. Zelgadis can imagine that the monster is wagging his head from side to side in mock dismay, but all Zelgadis can see of the monster is a billowing chaotic cone of astral energy.

Turning his attention back to Crowling, Zelgadis nods his head as he agrees with his assistant's opinion. The truth is that Zelgadis doesn't hear every word Crowing says, but he hears enough to understand and confirm the validity of Crowlings thoughts.

"Don't worry Sir," Crowlings says patiently. "None of the chimeras or other patients shows any of the signs you are exhibiting."

"While this is good news, it also implies that there is nothing you or I can do to fix this," Zelgadis says realistically.

Crowling doesn't respond, only looks away with downcast eyes. The assistance face is red, either it's from frustration at the situation or due to the fact that he has been yelling at Zelgadis for the past two hours in an attempt to be heard clearly. The two intellects continue to discuss other possibilities as Xellos watches quietly, but the two humans eventually call it a day. Not once does Xellos offer any useful information to the discussion; he merely watches them, repeats what they have said or states the obvious. Eventually, Zelgadis has had enough.

Standing from his chair Zelgadis makes his way to the door.

"What do you want to do," Crowling asks before Zelgadis can leave the room

"Keep at it, but for now I'm going to tell my companions what is going on," Zelgadis says. Grimly, Zelgadis doesn't want to accept that this is happening to him all over again, but he won't run away from it either. Unlike the situation with Ralnker, what is happening to his body right now, as far as he can tell, is not caused by a monster. Zelgadis sends a quick glare at Xellos, who is currently following close behind him. Briskly, Zelgadis enters the hall and makes his way to the dining room where he left Lina and the others.

As he walks through the halls and numerous rooms Zelgadis takes note of all the people he passes. They look different to him now that his eyes and mind are trying to piece the world together in any way it can. He also notices that the people seem fearful. Shaking his head, Zelgadis wonders how he is able to read people's emotions through their astral forms. While he has noticed that he can do this with Xellos and his friends slightly, Zelgadis hasn't considered the possibility with other humans. He also realizes that he still doesn't completely understand the emotions behind what he is seeing.

As Xellos comes to mind, Zelgadis quickly quiets this thought as he enters the dining hall.

"Hi, Zel!" Gourry calls out, waving a fork load of food in greeting. Zelgadis watches the others who offer similar greeting and assumes they are saying hi too.

Xellos follows after Zelgadis and makes his form visible for the others at the table as he takes a seat beside Lina.

"Before, I give you any information I have a question." Zelgadis says as he sits down. Turning his full attention to Amelia, Zelgadis continues. "Is Seyruun doing alright? And yes you are going to need to yell so I can hear you."

Amelia nods and begins to yell, it comes across as very rigid to Zelgadis, but he doesn't complain. If push comes to shove he can ask her to talk to him in sign language instead. "Seyruun _is_ fine. But _there _has _been a_ lot_ of bandit_ activity_ recently," Amelia says. Sullenly, Zelgadis realizes that all of the bandit attacks on their way here must not have been the coincidence of simply traveling with Lina Inverse.

"I think the people are afraid," Zelgadis says out loud. "I noticed that the people I've met with today are uneasy."

"How_ can_ you_ tell?" Amelia asks.

Xellos says something, but purposefully says it quietly making it impossible for Zelgadis to hear him. In response, Zelgadis clenches his fist and glares at the monster.

"You really can't hear well can you?" Lina says just loud enough for Zelgadis to make her out.

"No I cannot," Zelgadis says with sigh. "It seems I am going deaf and blind slowly, as if I'm aging. My hearing was the first thing to go and I estimate that it has been slowly happening for the past two weeks. Unfortunately, my sight is following suite. Everything is extremely blurry and my brain has been trying to compensate. Unlike my hearing though, I am losing my sight at a faster rate, so my brain isn't putting things together correctly."

Lacing her hands together, Amelia restrains herself from putting her clasped hands to her mouth in distress. All of his friends show concern in their common way, although as usual, Lina looks more annoyed and frustrated, choosing not to show the traditional signs of concern. After studying her astral form, Zelgadis can see her emotions clearly and she is genuinely anxious.

"For now," Zelgadis continues. "I'll be depending on my astral vision to see and hear. If you need to talk to me you can use the Tansaku spell, apparently I can hear things just fine through the astral plane. I do not want to resort to pencil and paper again." This last request is directed towards Lina, who used it a lot two months ago. Zelgadis suppresses a shiver as he recalls the annoying hindrance of trying to communicate with people using pencil and paper. Sign language is ten times more convenient, but Lina wouldn't want to take the time to learn it and Gourry probably couldn't if he tried.

"Why not make yourself a new body," Lina asks. The question is a good one, but it reminds Zelgadis of how bad his condition really is.

"Even if I transfer into a new body, there is a possibility that the problem would still eventually eat away at me," Zelgadis says patiently. "I want to be sure that this condition is not attached to my soul or astral body before creating another new body. A human body may not be durable enough to contain it. Of course, we don't know this for sure, it is only a theory."

Amelia takes Zelgadis's hand and looks up at him. Even with his failing vision, Zelgadis can still see her brilliant blue eyes. "Are _you _sure _there is _nothing we _can do?" she asks.

"Not right now," Zelgadis says. "Crowling and I still need to test a few things, if we find out anything I'll tell you more."

"Alright Zel, I'm holding you to it," Lina says. "In the meantime, Gourry and I are going to look into this sudden rise in bandit attacks. I thought for sure they weren't going to show their ugly faces for another ten years." Lina's blurry head shakes from side to side in disappointment regarding her favorite pass time. "Leave the bandit race alone for a couple of years so they can recuperate and it all goes to pot. This time they won't be so lucky."

Having spoken their minds, the group disperses and goes about their business.

_Authors Note: Short chapter, but important since it presents the problem that Zelgadis will be dealing with for the rest of the story. Like an 'older' person Zelgadis starts out believing his friends are simply being rude to him rather than realize that he is going deaf and blind again. That and this chapter gives Lina something to do, fight bandits._


	3. Searching for Excuses

Overcoming Strength

Searching for Excuses

Chapter 3

Over the next few days Lina fills up on food before heading out to investigate the growing numbers of bandits. Amelia is stuck finishing paper work and pushing suitors' aside, while Sylphiel offers her services to Zelgadis in healing his body.

Although he doesn't want to admit it at first, Zelgadis's body begins to ach more and Sylphiel gladly helps him with it. In the morning his back is always stiff and his knees hurt. Unfortunately, Zelgadis feels like an old man while still appearing to be a young man. When Amelia sees' Zelgadis bent over in slight pain, as he sifts through numerous notes in his office, she becomes slightly anxious.

"(You) (hurt/in pain)?" Amelia asks him using sign language as she passes by. She doesn't bother casting the Tansaku spell since she has other places to be right now. It takes Zelgadis a lot of concentration to make out her signs on the astral plane, but he manages.

Looking up at Amelia with slightly weary and completely blind eyes, Zelgadis offers Amelia a soft smile. As should be apparent, Zelgadis doesn't need to be looking up with his eyes to see Amelia. "(Please) (don't) (worry)," Zelgadis signs to her while speaking the same aloud. He offers her a believable expression to back up his words. While Zelgadis assumes that he still has a voice, Zelgadis wants to practice sign language just in case. "(Not) (Die) (easily)," he jokes.

She smiles.

Carefully watching the princess's astral presence, Zelgadis notes a slight nod of relief from her, before she drifts away down the hall. He continues to watch her through the halls and walls as she makes her way to the large council room at the other side of the palace to discuss business with the elders and her father. It is obvious to Zelgadis that Amelia has gone out of her way to see him and check up on him. He cannot help, but feel touched by the simple act. In addition, Zelgadis wonders if she realizes that he can see her before she steps in through the door.

"_Out of curiosity,"_ Xellos says from his perch above Zelgadis's left shoulder._ "How far can you see through the astral plane?"_

Once again, Zelgadis is slightly put out that the monster seems to know exactly what he's thinking without reading his mind. Honestly, Zelgadis is beside himself with anger at the Mazoku priest. The monster has been by his side, invisibly, for more than a week, ever since their little meeting together about ten days ago.

"Far," Zelgadis says out loud. Now, Zelgadis cannot hear his voice, but he doesn't give the monster the pleasure of using sign language for the monsters benefit. Although, Zelgadis assumes that he can still talk since he can still feel the gravely vibration of his throat when he speaks.

"_Blow Demons sure are curious astral beasts aren't they?"_ Xellos says casually. _"Of all the beasts made, they are by far the strangest. A creature who is almost entirely made from astral energy without being considered a Mazoku. Makes me wonder how Rezo was able to catch one in order to make you? No one else has dared try it unless they are putting it in a simple gem."_

"Well there was no one quite like Rezo," Zelgadis says mildly. In actuality, Zelgadis is a little troubled by Xellos's sudden choice of conversation. Hoping that Xellos is only purposefully trying to discuss random topics, Zelgadis refrains from adding to Xellos's comment.

"_I'm really surprised at how well you are handling yourself, you don't seem worried at all,"_ Xellos says.

Zelgadis really wants Xellos to leave, so he doesn't entertain the monster with a response.

"_Aren't you worried that the cloned body you are currently residing in will fail and you will die?"_ Xellos continues undeterred. He is now openly grinning at Zelgadis, and even though the monster does not have a mouth right now, Zelgadis can tell it is there.

"_Are you too proud to admit that your perfect cure is flawed?"_ Xellos banters in a relaxed fashion. It is as if the monster is not even talking about death and failure, but about colorful flowers in a beautiful garden.

For the next three days, Xellos torments Zelgadis with his cruel banter and Amelia and Sylphiel are none the wiser. Finally, on the third day, Zelgadis has had enough. The monster just won't leave him alone.

Clenching his teeth, Zelgadis does his best to ignore the monster, but he is at the end of his rope. Why is Xellos even bothering to stick around? Shouldn't the happiness and white magic of Seyruun be getting to the Mazoku priest by now? Swiftly, Zelgadis gets up from his seat and walks out of his office. As is expected, Xellos follows after him, but Zelgadis doesn't care. He just keeps walking.

"_Oh, did I hit a nerve Zelly?"_ Xellos says._ "I didn't mean it, I actually believe that the cure you have is perfect for most chimera, but isn't the right fit for you. Someone of your constitution is quiet special."_

Finding the astral form he is searching for, Zelgadis makes his way to the shrine where the white mages work. As soon as Zelgadis enters the temple grounds open to guests, Xellos stops at the entrance and doesn't go any further.

"Is something wrong Xellos?" Zelgadis says playfully. Tempted to stick his tongue out at Xellos in victory, Zelgadis quickly makes his way inside the building and locates his assistant, Crowling. The assistant isn't too difficult to find, since his astral presence is unique from the other White Mages.

"_I'll be waiting here for you,"_ Xellos calls to Zelgadis from the astral plane. At this point, Zelgadis is well within the confines of the shrine, but material walls and doors cannot keep out Xellos's voice while Zelgadis is depending on his astral senses to see and hear.

Again, Zelgadis ignores the monster.

Coming up behind Crowling, Zelgadis gently taps him on the shoulder and offers a wave of greeting as his assistant turns to face him. The assistance seems surprised, but is happy to see him nonetheless. Applying the Tansaku Spell the two begin to talk to one another.

"_Sir, you startled me," _Crowling says to Zelgadis. _"What brings you here?"_

"_I needed a break,"_ Zelgadis honestly reports. Looking around the room, Zelgadis takes note of the special artifacts kept in this particular portion of the shrine. These items possess excessive magical attributes and are used for a variety of practices. Some items help with healing, others for exorcism, and still others are for amplification purposes. Zelgadis finds it curious that Crowling would be researching here of all places for a cure. _"Did you find something of interest here?"_

"_Yes and No,"_ Crowling says as he looks at the amplification jewel lying in front of him. _"Before you came back from your trip with the princess, I was researching magically enhanced items."_

Zelgadis nods, using his astral vision, the blind man can easily see the power emanating from the various items in the room. Some are definitely more powerful than others.

Crowling continues. "_When you came back I stopped my search in order to help you, but yesterday I had a thought. A chimera is kind of like these items, a fusion of magical energy and physical material. Now we both know that it is possible to separate the magic from an item after it has been contained in a vessel, but only after destroying the original physical portion of the object. That is part of the cure you discovered for yourself and the other chimera cases. Destroy the original container, but transfer the soul and magical energy of a person into a new vessel using a Hellmaster's Jar."_

"_Soul's Cradle,"_ Zelgadis quickly corrects Crowling. Zelgadis doesn't like to refer to his method of saving people as the Hellmaster's jar, even if it is the same premise. Crowling should know better by now than to refer to the magical case as the Hellmaster's jar.

"_My mistake Sir,"_ Crowling says apologetically, but he quickly continues before he can lose his train of thought._ "Now where was I . . . oh yes, after the soul and astral form is successfully transferred the subject can live a new life without the curse that was attached to his body, but here's the thing. Bringing me back to where I started with magical items. As soon as you transfer certain astral magic into another item, the physical appearance of the item may change depending on the properties assigned to it. If the magical property is too strong this may even destroy the new vessel."_

"_Are you suggesting that my astral form is killing my own body?"_ Zelgadis says thoughtfully. Trying to hide his unease, Zelgadis is truly concerned by this new hypothesis. If this is the case, no matter how many times he creates a new body, none of them will be able to hold him for long.

"_We will need to run more tests to be sure, after all this is only a theory,"_ Crowling says to Zelgadis. _"But I'm sure that if we diagnose the problem we will easily be able to overcome it." _

Zelgadis cannot help, but smile at Crowling's optimism_. "Alright than,"_ Zelgadis says. _"Let's go back to the lab and office. We might be able to make some real headway today." _While the prospect of possibly dying does not bode well with Zelgadis, it is better than dying and not knowing why. Making his way to the door, Zelgadis stops and notices that Crowlings astral form seems to quiver. _"Is everything alright Crowling?"_

Pursing his lips, Crowling shakes his head slightly as he studies the artifact in front of him_. "It's strange Zelgadis,"_ Crowling says, actually choosing to call Zelgadis by his name rather than referring to him as Sir. _"I don't really remember why I was studying these magical articles to begin with."_ Turning towards Zelgadis, Crowling tries to clarify his sudden change in topic. _"True, right now it makes perfect sense to be researching this given your current predicament, but why would I be doing such things before having a reason?"_

"_Well I did leave you in charge of the chimeras while I was gone,"_ Zelgadis says calmly. _"Why shouldn't you investigate magical items and their effects on a physical object?"_

"_I suppose,"_ Crowling says, obviously he is not entirely convince because Zelgadis can see his astral body fluctuate in form.

Rather than ignore his companions distress like he would have done four months ago Zelgadis stops and looks at Crowling. Wanting to put his assistant's mind at ease, Zelgadis asks his assistant a question. As is should be apparent, Crowling loves answering questions and offering his opinions to anyone who will listen. _"Is that item you're looking at a new addition to the collection? I haven't seen it before."_

"_Yes,"_ Crowling answers happily. _"Amelia brought this particular item to us from one of the bandit raids. Many of the mages here have shown an interest in investigating the magical items these bandits have been carrying in their possession. Since everyone here knows that Lina Inverse will most likely pawn the items she pilfers from the bandits before the mages ever see them, they are treating this item with special attention." _

"_Have they found anything of interest about this particular item?"_ Zelgadis asks patiently.

"_Apparently this item was recently crafted,"_ is Crowlings response to Zelgadis. The assistant shrugs and it is apparent to Zelgadis that learned man is not impressed with what the other mages have discovered so far. _"It is a magic amplifier."_

Walking back towards Crowling, Zelgadis faces the artifact and studies it closer than before. The artifact in front of him is a ring with a green jewel at its center. Using his astral vision, Zelgadis can just make out a little of its makers magical finger prints on the device. There is something odd about the items make up that bothers Zelgadis. Lina's talismans are derived from unknown origins, but Zelgadis has observed that one of the gems takes its power from Shabranigdo. Moreover, it has been known that Blow Demons can be sealed in gems for their magical abilities. In this case though, Zelgadis cannot identify the magical source of the ring.

Without asking for permission Zelgadis picks up the ring and carefully probes it. Zelgadis verbally grunts, not that he can hear it, but Crowlings probably can. "_It is incomplete or a failure of sorts. The ring is supposed to contain powers derived from Ceifeed, but it doesn't look like the sorcerer who created this was successful."_

After a moment's pause, Crowling closes his mouth from shock._ "How do you know that?"_

"_When my senses were sealed, I was able to track down the monsters responsible by using my astral vision,_" Zelgadis explains. _"At the time, Lina had tricked me into doing it, since she was getting tired of waiting around for Ralnker to show up on his own."_

Making a funny face, like he's tasted an old strawberry, Crowling shakes his head. _"Lina Inverse is not a very patient person is she?"_

"_I like to think that she has improved a little over the years,"_ Zelgadis laughs.

"_Can you track down the one who made this ring?"_ Crowling asks with growing excitement.

"_I'm afraid not,"_ Zelgadis admits. _"This ring doesn't have enough energy to go off of."_

"_That's too bad,_" Crowling says and Zelgadis notes a slight change in his assistance astral form again. It is as if a quivering candle has been relit. _"Well, we should get working on the real issue at hand," _Crowling says, he is now inspired again and ready for anything Zelgadis might throw at him. As they walk out of the temple and towards a waiting Xellos, Crowling looks over at Zelgadis with brimming admiration. _"Thank you, Zelgadis,"_ he says.

"_Don't mention it,"_ Zelgadis says. Inconveniently, Zelgadis stiffens as another ach hits him in the small of his back. The slight ebb of pain does not go unnoticed even by Crowling.

"_Maybe you should visit Sylphiel again,"_ Crowling says trying his best to mask the immense concern he feels for Zelgadis.

"_Yes, I think I'll do that,"_ Zelgadis admits, not even bothering to argue the point. _"I'll meet you at the lab."_

Making his way across the grounds, Zelgadis easily locates Sylphiel and walks towards her. There are only a few times the blind man stumbles over a step or wayward box, but Zelgadis eventually makes it to his destination. Maybe he should consider using his wood walking stick again. As usual, Xellos is right behind him the entire time, but the monster doesn't say a word, much to Zelgadis's silent joy.

"Hello Sylphiel, do you have a minute," Zelgadis calls as he knocks on her door. Watching her carefully, Zelgadis is pleased to see that she hears him as he watches her head raise and walk to the door.

"_I can spare some of my time,"_ Sylphiel says happily from the astral plane. _"Have you found a new cure?"_

"Not exactly," Zelgadis says as he sits down on a seat and rubs his back. "Apparently, my body might be dying."

"_Really_?" Sylphiel says in shock. _"That's terrible news."_

"Personally, I'm not sure it's that simple," Zelgadis admits. "Crowling is smart, but it doesn't explain why this hasn't happened sooner. Why now?"

Nodding her head, Sylphiel can quickly tell that Zelgadis is exhausted and sets to work. _"I don't think your body is dying either,"_ Sylphiel says.

"What makes you think that?" Zelgadis asks.

"_Well,"_ Sylphiel continues to work while she thinks about her answer. _"I've seen and healed a lot of elderly people and your ailments do not seem to be caused by aging. If that were the case I could possibly help you see or at least hear a little, but I can't."_

Zelgadis hunches over slightly as he begins to think deeply about what she has said, but Sylphiel stops him.

"_Slouching will not help Zelgadis,"_ Sylphiel says as she forcibly straightens him in the chair. "_Of course, aging bodies are actually the signs of a dying one, but you don't have any wrinkles, bone loss, deformities or show any mental signs of a dying body. I do not think you are growing old and therefore your body is not dying for that reason."_

Refraining from saying anything out loud Zelgadis thinks to himself, 'than why do I feel like an old man?'

"_Sylphiel is right,"_ Xellos says out of nowhere. Briefly forgetting that Sylphiel cannot see the monster; Zelgadis spins around in his chair and stares up at the monsters sudden reply.

"_Is something wrong Zelgadis,"_ Sylphiel asks. Her eyes search the room nervously as she wonders what on earth Zelgadis is reacting to. Perhaps his mental state is in question.

"No, nothing," Zelgadis says as he turns to face her again.

"_Although,"_ Sylphiel hesitates. _"The change in your hair color is . . . disturbing and might contradict my theory."_

"What do you mean?" Zelgadis asks.

"_Your hair color is turning white I think,"_ Sylphiel says as she takes a closer look at his head.

Trying not to let his irritation show, Zelgadis calmly thanks Sylphiel for her assistance and leaves the room. After running numerous tests with Crowling, both learned magicians are still convinced that Zelgadis's body is dying.

At dinner, Zelgadis breaks the news to Amelia who does not take it well. Sylphiel again, offers her opinion that contradicts their theory, but Zelgadis grudgingly points out that his hair is turning white. He also clarifies that he doesn't like the prospect of his body dying, but he refuses to ignore the possibility simply based on fear.

Amelia and Sylphiel do not respond immediately.

"_This has nothing to do with fear,"_ Amelia finally says. Her fear and anger can be seen by Zelgadis from her astral form, but she remains calm for the sake of making her point. _"We just don't want to hear you talking about your own death so casually."_

Zelgadis apologizes to the two girls, not because he is sorry, but because he doesn't want to upset them. He realizes that they are not on the same page as him and so he politely ends the conversation before it can go further.

_Author's Note: Oh no, Zelgadis is dying… wonder how Zelgadis is going to get out of this mess. Again, I like the interactions the characters display, especially given the situation and what they have already recently endured together._

_Moreover, at the time of writing this I did not realize that Relm Wanderer's story 'Pokota's Plight' would go the route it did. This story will have similarities, but they are not intentional and will go a different direction then Wanderer's plot. Read her stuff it's great!_

_And finally, it's been a while since I've updated anything (including on DA) I apologize but life happens and I will do my best to get back into the swing of things. I hope you enjoy this overdue chapter._


	4. Asking for Help

Overcoming Strength

Asking for Help

Chapter 4

For the next couple of days Zelgadis works through more notes and findings from numerous tests and comes to suspect that Sylphiel might be right. His body is not aging, it's something else. While this thought wriggles itself around in his mind Zelgadis is rudely interrupted, but it is not because of the monster priest who is perched behind him. Duly noting the astral presence of Lina Inverse as she makes her way up to his office, he also see's that she is holding some very powerful magical items. Zelgadis is slightly annoyed when she dumps said artifacts, a mound of junk more like it, on his desk in front of him as she comes into the room.

"_Hey, Zel"_ Lina says happily.

"What was that for," Zelgadis asks angrily motioning to the mess she has brought.

"_Didn't you see me coming,"_ Lina asks pointedly. "_Anyway, these are some of the items I got from the bandits over the last couple of days."_

"I'm surprised that you didn't sell them," Zelgadis muses as he picks up one of the miscellaneous treasures. It has a strong magical aura.

"_I was tempted,"_ Lina admits. _"But one of the shop owners pointed something out to me that I hadn't noticed before."_ Grabbing an ornate looking dagger Lina removes the handle and turns the blade over to reveal something to Zelgadis. Gently, Lina holds it up to Zelgadis, but all he can see is the throbbing pulse of the magical energy seething out of it. If there is some other detail on its material surface, Zelgadis will not be able to see it.

"I'm sorry Lina," Zelgadis says, lifting his hands slightly to match the honesty of his words. "But I cannot see."

"_Your normal vision is completely gone?_" Lina asks in shock. _". . . I'm sorry to hear that."_

Zelgadis shrugs, "I'm getting by alright, but is something written on the inside of the daggers hilt?"

"_Yes, the first part I can clearly read,"_ Lina musses. _"It says 'Lina', but there is a line underneath it written in a language I cannot understand. Of all the people I know, you are certainly someone who can read this."_

"Well, I probably could, if I wasn't blind," Zelgadis says with a tight smile. "Do you have any idea what language it is?" Leaning back in his chair, Zelgadis lets his blind eyes look up at Lina. For some reason this slightly bothers the woman, and she looks away and turns her focus back onto the dagger.

"_Let's see,"_ Lina begins. _"Each item here has my name and something written in it or on it somewhere. From the little I know, I'm guessing that it is the ancient tongue of Ralteague."_

Rising from his seat Zelgadis walks over to one of his many book cases and retrieves a dictionary. "Here you go," Zelgadis says. "Courtesy of the Seyruun library, I forgot to return it."

"_Are you kidding?"_ Lina says as Zelgadis tosses the large book her way. Nearly dropping said book, Lina grabs at it and glares towards Zelgadis with distaste. While offering her a soft smile, he goes back to his seat. Looking over the items littered on his desk, Zelgadis notices that the magic they are emitting is familiar.

As he makes his way back to the desk Zelgadis offers a light comment to Lina, "When you are done researching that, maybe you can tell me a little more about that dragon power on your hand."

Lina looks at him in shock, but doesn't say anything, choosing to ignore him for the moment.

Picking up a bracelet, Zelgadis feels a surge of energy from the small item as soon as he touches it. "Can I borrow this Lina?" Zelgadis asks.

Lina takes a seat and starts flipping through the dictionary. _"Sure, just bring it back,"_ Lina says with a huff. _"It's not like I'm going anywhere."_

Again, Zelgadis takes this golden opportunity to rid himself of Xellos momentarily, and the man sets off towards the white magic temple leaving a moping Mazoku at the gate. He's heading to the temple in order to compare the difference between this bracelet and the ring from the other day. As Zelgadis makes his way inside, he is surprised to find Crowling, Sylphiel and Gourry's presence there along with a number of other white mages.

Crowling's astral presence is displaying its usual characteristics with a slight flicker. When he gets closer Zelgadis's concern escalates, something is off. Crowling's astral body is showing more chaotic flames than normal. His astral signature was always unique, but this is not healthy.

It feels foreign.

Zelgadis casually walks into the room and gingerly places the magical bracelet into his pocket. "Good afternoon, what going on?" Zelgadis says out loud.

Immediately, Crowlings astral form fluctuates and Zelgadis tries not to panic at the dangerous signs he is sensing. The young priest appears to be going mad, form twitching like a jitter bug. Sylphiel seems to be in the mist of trying to cast a spell on Crowling, but with Crowling's last sporadic convulsion Gourry takes the initiative and moves in to protect Sylphiel. Grabbing at Sylphiel he forces her to move back a safe distance away from the seemingly deranged sorcerer.

Crowling's body stops moving as Sylphiel's spell takes hold. What looks to be a white sparkling flame escapes from his friend's body; flying out of the room like a comet.

Miraculously, Crowling begins coming out of his stupor and looks around in bewilderment. His eyes fall on Zelgadis first and the assistant immediately casts the spell to communicate with him. "_How did I get here?"_ Crowling says to Zelgadis from the astral plane.

Like a gust of wind, Crowlings astral form wafts around before eventually falling back into a calmer form, very different from what it normally looks like actually. Gourry let's go of Sylphiel after he is sure the danger has past. Gourry says something to Sylphiel, but of course Zelgadis cannot hear him.

Crowling gasps, and although Zelgadis cannot hear it, he assumes his assistant is gasping because of the gasp like pose he is making right now. _"Zelgadis I think I was just possessed!"_ Crowling nearly shrieks into Zelgadis's mind.

Before Zelgadis can question this, Crowling begins to pace back and forth talking to himself. Zelgadis can catch some of these thoughts and realizes that Crowling is retracing his steps, trying to recall what he was doing last before blacking out. He asks some questions to the other priests and mages who are still in the room, before turning back to Zelgadis._ "Is the thing that possessed me still here?"_

"No it's gone now," Zelgadis confirms as he searches the immediate area. The only form he see's in the distance is Xellos, who is still waiting where he left him.

Gourry moves towards Sylphiel and hugs her, stopping her from firing off any more spells at a monster that is no longer there.

"_I can't believe that __**thing**__ got away with that,"_ Crowling says angrily, hugging himself while he continues to pace. In Zelgadis's mind, the normally composed man seems to be screaming. Someone's astral voice is different from their physical voice in some cases. But to the other people in the room Crowling's voice probably sounds like it normally does. The fretful man continues. _"But-I was powerless to do anything,"_ Crowling is furious rather than fearful.

"How could a white magic expert such as yourself ever possibly become possessed?" Zelgadis reasons. "Isn't that impossible?"

"_No it isn't impossible," _Crowling says calming down a little. _"It is highly unlikely though."_

"What was the last thing you remember?" Zelgadis asks as he comes up beside him. Sylphiel and Gourry walk forward to join them as the other mages quickly make their way out of the room. Now that the excitement is over they have mind enough to report this event to the head mage. Zelgadis hopes that this will not affect Crowling's prestige among the priests.

"_I don't know,"_ Crowling finally says.

Sylphiel casts the Tansaku Spell so she can communicate with Zelgadis as well.

"What happened?" Zelgadis's asks Sylphiel calmly.

"_I was having a nice visit with Gourry Dear when I was summoned here,"_ Sylphiel recounts. _"I was told that one of the mages had been possessed and that none of their flow break spells were working. Since I'm an expert with these kinds of things they asked for my assistance. I came here as fast as I could and found Crowling demanding information from the other mages and threatening them. That's when you came into the room. I was able to cast the spell necessary to free him and you saw the rest."_

Crowling nods as he listens. The frightened man is calming down and after hearing a clear account of what happened is falling into his habitual thinking routine. Zelgadis turns to Crowling.

"You should have Sylphiel check you out and keep you under surveillance," Zelgadis says factually. "We don't want this to happen again." Next he turns to Sylphiel. "Maybe you should tell Amelia about what has happened here, I know she is busy, but I would hate to think what version of the story the other mages might reiterate to her." Zelgadis does not want to lose his most valuable assistant due to old men's fear. "She also knows everything that goes on in the palace, maybe she has heard something about people acting uncharacteristically."

Now that Crowling has a slight plan, he gains a bit more confidence. _"Alright, sir,"_ Crowling says with a nod. _"And I'm sorry about this."_

"A minor setback," Zelgadis assures him. "Right now I want you to take care of yourself. You need to do that before you can help me." Zelgadis says this with a smile, it is not meant to discourage Crowling in any way and his assistant understands this. Gourry and Sylphiel then depart from the room with Crowling, leaving Zelgadis with disturbing thoughts and a tight mystery left to be unraveled.

The last thing he needs is his prized assistant off the case. He cannot possibly do all of this by himself. Making his way to the magical ring on its pedestal, Zelgadis proceeds to pull out the bracelet hidden in his pocket. Since he is here, and all of the other mages have left the room, he might as well accomplish his original goal for coming in the first place. As Zelgadis is expecting, the magical signature from the two items match perfectly. Whoever made this bracelet with Lina's name on it, is the same person who created the ring. Unlike the incomplete ring, the bracelet is a successful amplifier and draws its magical power from elemental magic. And more precisely, from astral magic.

This information is slightly disturbing to Zelgadis considering his own problems. Are the two issues somehow related? He does not want to become entangled in another Lina problem if he can help it. With a slump in his step, Zelgadis makes his way out of the shrine towards his ever present companion.

"_That was some light show,"_ Xellos says in his normal fashion.

"_Yes, wasn't it,"_ Zelgadis says, but refrains from saying any more.

Before doing anything else, Zelgadis checks on Crowling. Relief washes over him as Sylphiel confirms to him that his companion is perfectly fine and should be back to work in no time. After wishing them all a good evening, Zelgadis makes his way back towards his office.

As he walks there, he eyes Lina from afar noting her mood. She does not appear happy. The girl is pacing the room pulling at her hair. When pacing isn't enough she starts to throw some of her junk at the wall, then she slams the book down on the desk. The book doesn't stay closed long before she waddles back over to it and restarts her search. Watching this short episode from Lina is quite entertaining to Zelgadis and he cannot help but laugh to himself. After what has just happened to Crowling and his ever growing troubles, Zelgadis needs a good laugh.

"_What's so funny?" _Xellos asks.

Xellos has just ruined the moment.

"Any luck?" Zelgadis asks aloud as he slips into the room.

Lina starts to holler and rave at Zelgadis, pointing at the book and items in a haphazard manner. Obviously she has forgotten to recast the Tansaku Spell because Zelgadis cannot hear a word Lina is saying. When Lina appears to be done Zelgadis merely raises an eyebrows and points to his ears. Zelgadis offers her a sweet innocent smile. In frustration she screams before casting the correct spell.

"_I hate you,"_ Lina says.

"Thank you for not screaming when I could hear you," Zelgadis says.

Taking the hint Lina proceeds to scream as loudly as she can, lucky for Zelgadis, he can control the volume (so to speak) on what he hears through the astral plane so her loud tone doesn't bother him.

"Feel better," Zelgadis asks with a tease.

"_Of course not,"_ Lina says with a twitching eye brow. _"I can't make head or tails of any of this guys secret love notes."_

"I was able to find something out for you," Zelgadis says at length. "I'm not sure if it will help you any but. . ."

"_Just tell me what you found out, I'll be satisfied with most anything at this point," _Lina is in a sour mood.

"Amelia brought back one of the trinkets from a bandit attack over a week ago for the white mages to study," Zelgadis says patiently. "They were hoping to find some clues regarding the recent rise in bandit activity and their heavy use of magical items. Not much has been accomplished, but I did notice something odd about it and decided to compare your items here to the item Amelia brought back. . ." Zelgadis cuts himself off allowing Lina time to think about it. Unfortunately, Zelgadis only succeeds in making Lina crabbier.

"_You're lucky I don't hit blind and deaf people,"_ Lina says.

"Funny," Zelgadis recounts. "You didn't have a problem hitting me the last time I was deaf, blind, **and** mute."

If Zelgadis could see her eyes he would see her glaring at him intensely.

Clearing his throat Zelgadis continues. "The same person made both items. They're astral identification matches perfectly even though the ring from Amelia was incomplete. But I can still tell."

"_Wow,"_ Lina says trying to sound sarcastic. Her tone does not betray any sense of awe, but Zelgadis can read from her form that she is actually somewhat impressed._ "You've gotten pretty good at this Astral Vision stuff haven't you?"_

"_You have no idea,"_ Xellos says on the astral plane. Lina still doesn't know that he is there. Zelgadis briefly entertains the thought of telling Lina about his Xellos troubles. Should he tell her?

"I have another tidbit of information that might interest you," Zelgadis says as he picks up the dictionary Lina has thrown on the ground. While he puts the book away, Zelgadis spots Amelia heading towards his building. Taking note of her relaxed stride Zelgadis is assured that she isn't going to bring him any bad news. Zelgadis continues to talk to Lina, "The ever mysterious Xellos has been following me closely these past few weeks.

"_You mean ever since you noticed a decline in your ability to see and hear?" _Lina asks.

"Yes," Zelgadis says

"_Oh, Zelgadis you aren't playing fair,"_ Xellos whines. Zelgadis notes that Xellos's astral form fluctuates and assumes that he is now visible to Lina in his human form. The annoying monster next decides to talk to Lina using his physical voice so Zelgadis cannot hear him. A little payback perhaps?

"_According to Xellos you haven't made much progress on your recent lose of hearing and sight,"_ Lina says mildly.

"That isn't entirely true," Zelgadis says as he takes note of Amelia's location in the building. The last thing he wants is for Xellos and Lina to be talking about this particular subject in front of her. "Crowling came upon a theory while investigating these items. My partially cursed astral form is affecting my body and . . . like some of these failed magical amplifiers, my body is slowly dying."

"_Are you serious?"_ Lina says. Her hands are clenched and her agitation with Zelgadis is obvious. On another point, Zelgadis is finding it easier and easier to read people's emotions. _"Why did you ever bother even creating a new body for yourself if it was just going to kill you?" _Lina reasons.

"It's just a theory," Zelgadis says remaining calm."Sylphiel is convinced that if I was truly dying she would be able to do something about it."

"_Well, that's nice of her to say, but it's not like she has any experience with chimera's," _Lina says honestly.

"That's my opinion as well," Zelgadis says.

There is a momentary pause where no one seems to be saying anything.

"_Xellos says you aren't dying,"_ Lina says without any emotion, just a statement of fact.

"I do not care for that monster's opinion," Zelgadis says just as calmly. "He has done nothing beneficial and is a constant thorn in my side. I am tiring of his verbal abuse."

"_Xellos doesn't lie, and if you were going to die, I doubt he would be sticking to you like glue, which he has apparently been doing,"_ Lina says with a small smile.

Zelgadis is caught off guard. For some reason this simple fact never crossed his mind. He has been so angry at the monster and obsessed with his research that the thought never occurred to him. Leave it to Lina to turn a complicated issue into something so straightforward.

When Amelia opens the door to the room Zelgadis nearly forgets to greet her.

"_Hello Mister Zelgadis,"_ Amelia says pleasantly. The princess turns to greet Lina and is a little more than shocked to see Xellos in the room.

"_You didn't tell Amelia about Xellos did you?" _Lina asks.

"No I didn't," Zelgadis admits sheepishly, but then he turns to Amelia. "Is there anything wrong?"

"_No, nothing is wrong,"_ Amelia says at length while she eyes Xellos suspiciously. Zelgadis notes that Lina says something to Amelia which sparks the inevitable question. _"Why didn't you tell me that Mister Xellos has been with you all this time Mister Zelgadis?"_

Trying not to hold his breath in minor irritation for this needless conversation, Zelgadis politely answers Amelia. "I didn't think it mattered, especially since you can't see him unless he chooses to be seen. I didn't want you to think I was crazy or . . ." At this point Zelgadis stops. He can tell Amelia his reasons all night long, but his excuses all sound idiotic at this point.

Why did he have to tell Lina about Xellos in the first place? Oh, it's because he is sick and tired of the fruitcake.

"I'm sorry," Zelgadis finally says, again he says it out of obligation rather than really meaning it.

Amelia and Lina can tell.

Lina says something out loud that Zelgadis cannot hear, but Zelgadis can tell from her astral form that it isn't something nice. Amelia in turn seems to reprimand Lina, but Zelgadis can tell that she is still sad. And slightly disappointed.

"_I wanted to tell you Mister Zelgadis that I was going to send a letter to Pokota and ask him for his assistance," _Amelia says._ "At this rate the magical item and bandit rise is going to affect the whole alliance and I also thought that he might be able to help you since Crowling is having . . . difficulties. It's not just him being possessed; I think he's dealing with some stress."_

Zelgadis nods. "He needs a nice long break," Zelgadis says. "He deserves it, but it will be difficult to replace him. I need him," and he deeply means every word.

"_Well we should all get some rest,"_ Amelia says at length. "_Goodnight Mister Zelgadis."_She turns and wishes everyone present, including Xellos, a good evening and leaves the room. Lina eyes her junk littered throughout Zelgadis's office.

"_Is it alright if I keep this stuff here for now?"_ Lina says.

"It's alright," Zelgadis says and the two leave the room with Xellos following in tow.

When they near their assigned rooms for the evening Lina turns to Zelgadis. _"I might have a little teeny favor to ask you tomorrow, sleep well,"_ Lina says and with that leaves Zelgadis standing in the hall with a dumb expression on his face.

Zelgadis momentarily wonders if he will have a choice in this favor of hers.

Probably not.

_Author's Note: Now you really know why Crowling is in this story, because I couldn't let a ghost possess any of the cannon characters. It just cannot be done. That and . . . most Slayer OC's that I create I end up killing in my stories. No OC is safe._


End file.
